He Stays
by redcloudedleopard
Summary: Korra has taken Tahno in to live at Air Temple Island following a shocking discovery. She is confronted with anger at Mako and Asami, and rather mixed feelings about her former rival... Pairing: Tahno/Korra. T rating because of references to alcohol. I know there are already tons of fics about Tahno moving to the Island, but here's my take!
1. Prologue

_HEY GUYS!_

_ Here is my 2nd Tahorra fic which I'm finally brave enough to begin publishing. This one in particular is rated higher than the rest (see it as a kind of anime like Soul Eater or Darker Than Black) because of Tahno's drinking problem. Hope you enjoy it and please please send over reviews to let me know your thoughts, so I can tweak/fix things before it's too late. The masterplan is that I dish out a fic a month before Book 2 comes out next year** *BOOHOOHOO*** and these would all obviously be AUs. __Given the busy month ahead filled with uni and coursework and many more distractions, I'm afraid I'll have to keep the stories relatively short._

___Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Korra or its characters._

_Music inspiration: "Powerless" by Linkin Park_

* * *

"Maybe this is a sign for you to finally get over Mako."

Jinora closed and laid down her book at last. A gold mine of knowledge on anthropology of the Earth Kingdom, to be precise. But it wasn't nearly as important as being the friend in need of the Avatar this very moment. She was seated right next to Korra on the mellow but hard wood floor lining a corridor in the men's dormitory. Their backs leaned against one of the translucent screens separating them from the Air Temple's newest - and very troubled - guest. He was asleep, but his thoughts were alive with horrors only the spirits could decipher.

_"Korra…K-Korra…!"_

It was extremely late in the evening. The two heard thrashing, the creaking of wood, most of all the _suffering_ behind those screens. It had been going on intermittently for almost a full hour. To Jinora it was saddening (and worth a whole lot of curiosity); to Korra it was becoming more and more distressing on top of the anger pent up inside. The kind of anger you end up directing at no one but yourself, because you'd done the right thing. It was so difficult to explain.

_"Does your offer to live at Air Temple Island still stand?" _

_Korra half-expected he'd ask. And she is relieved for the shortest interim before she knows what she must do._

_"Of course it does. And Asami's welcome too."_

_"Thank you so much." His eyes are flickering, in a way that she must root herself to the ground or else. After all this time, he still has this effect on her._

_"After everything she's been through," without him quite noticing she manages to draw in all the breath needed, "she's going to need you Mako." He turns away to comfort the rich and attractive girlfriend she couldn't possibly measure up to, and the Avatar's best escape from emotions are to look out the window of the airship._

They were to move in tomorrow. Mako, Bolin and Asami were spending their second and last night in a hotel across from Republic City's police station for convenient questioning regarding Hiroshi Sato. Plus they had to pack their things to lug across the waters to the island the following day.

Korra had a wealth of envious rage to shove under the rug. And adding to that, she had found herself in another situation that afternoon which required more of her selflessness…

"He's been calling my name in his sleep," she sighs, turning her gaze to the eldest airbending kid.

Jinora blinked and was silent for a while, then queried, "Would it be alright…if you told me what happened in detail today?"

"It all started when I found Tahno at the police station. You know, after the Equalists blew up the Pro-bending arena. Your dad and Chief Beifong had called him in for questioning." Her brilliant blue eyes look to a solitary vase on one of the console tables at the end of the corridor. When sharing the next bits of information she lowered her voice. "When it was my turn to be interrogated, I stole a look at the file Beifong had in her hand. Tahno's address. For some reason I still can't figure out I chose to memorise it. So I made my way there today at last. After knocking on his door too long I heard glass shattering. I managed to get inside, and was horrified." An unhealthy sight of a broken man burned in her mind. "To break it down, Tahno had too much to drink, and the authorities were about to kick him out of his home and well…he looked so sick and tired that I had no second thoughts."

"About bringing him straight here?"

Korra nodded, looking away once more. She surmised that in such panic and confusion, the former Wolfbat had squandered the last of his savings on the best and most expensive healers in the city. And worst of all, the alcohol. She hadn't seen so many emptied bottles of countless sizes lining the top of a table in her life. "I should've gone another extra mile, Jinora. I should have treated him to some tea, or gone ahead and extended an invitation for him to stay here if he needed to. Surely your father would have been fine with that."

The girl nodded, saying nothing.

More whimpering escaped the room behind them.

_"Korra…"_

"What shall I do?" the Avatar felt she was about to snap.

In a manner most touching, the child's hand fell on her shoulder. "Answer his cries."


	2. The Visit

**A few hours earlier…**

_Apartment 450,_

_Moon Flower Street,_

_Lantern Flats Borough._

A penthouse apartment. And a wealthy neighbourhood.

Korra hiked up the several flights of steps with ease, working off the lunch she had downtown. Thank goodness Tenzin had granted her permission to drop by Tahno's place to check on him. She recalled the conversation with her mentor that morning at the breakfast table:

_"There's someone I'd like to visit this afternoon. If you're alright with that."_

_"Who, Korra?"_

_"I couldn't help but read something on Chief Beifong's case file sheet the other day. Tahno's home address."_

_"Ah, the leader of the Wolfbats team." _

_"You should have seen the look in his eyes, Tenzin. I mean, you interviewed him, after all. I know he and his friends cheated in the tournament to beat us, but…he was practically stripped away of all he'd known. Reminds me every day of what Amon can do."_

_"Hmm. Sounds like he has turned from a rival into…a friend?"_

_"I just want to make sure he's doing fine."_

_"You are learning a great lesson in compassion. It would do the Avatar more good than harm. Just be back by sundown for dinner," the airbender smiled._

Naga and the three White Lotus Guards waited patiently below.

She passed the last few apartment units before the last unique staircase leading to the top floor, briefly hearing what sounded like a couple bickering. Who knows, maybe their marriage was on the rocks. Up she went. The door in front of her now was marvelous and large, even lined with gold at diagonal edges. It was probably rather heavy too. "Tahno?" the Avatar began knocking. "It's me, Korra!"

It was one of those days where the sun played hide and seek, the breeze fairly strong and lovely up here. Korra waited ten seconds for the slightest hint of noise on the other side of the wood. Nothing happened. There was little point glaring through the single window she had access to, for she made out no more than the armrest of a wooden chair and an unknown shiny object in the murky shadows. However, as she squinted she noticed natural light pouring forth from what she guessed might be the dining area. She returned to the door.

"Tahno?" she pounded harder. No luck in the next three or so minutes. Given her usual amount of patience, five was cutting it pretty fine. Gradually her fist was so tight that her nails dug into her palm. "Tahno! You in there?"

_Oh you'll thank me later_, she finally thought. Only one other time had she melted a lock with firebending, and this sort of delicate task took time. Holding up an index finger and igniting it, Mako's face flashed in her mind. _I don't need you or your stupid golden gaze distracting me right now._ The moment she'd seen him with Asami weeks ago, at the gala organised by Tarrlok, _that_ fire was alight. _Next was a flash of silver eyes, predatory and calculating but then hollow and glazed._ She wanted so badly to take the fun and easy route and turn Tahno's front door to ash, but obviously resisted. She paused for a moment to let her finger cool off; just then, the smashing of glass pierced the silence. Coming from inside.

_What are you doing, Tahno?_ The gap between the door's edge and its frame was of course extremely narrow, almost airtight (though doors or walls were so rarely perfect and straight). The locking mechanisms were fashioned from high quality metal. _Doesn't help that I'm breaking into a home of a (formerly) heralded and filthy rich athlete...Bolin and I should be learning how to metalbend…_

She was roaming the dull and - dusty? - hallway not ten minutes later. This wasn't even the living room yet, given the absence of conventional carpets or couches. How big was this whole living space that belonged solely to him?

"Tahno!"

Everything from the furniture to newspapers was strewn about in such disarray. She spotted a layer of dust coating the console table, right before she picked up a muffled sound from somewhere ahead. All her thoughts wound to a grinding halt as she sped forward. Something slipped from beneath her feet, letting her tumble to the floor as sheets of paper glided about above her. Not five strides away was the living area that shared room with the kitchen and dining hall. Once Korra set foot in the wide open space the bright filtered daylight greeted her, but also revealed to her the root cause behind the pin drop silence.

He was splayed across one of the sofas, limp and still. Apparently, he did not even hear her coming and she was pushing against the growing likelihood that he wasn't even aware of her presence now. Each line on his face twisted in a way that caused her to her think, he might just cry at the drop of a hat. All of a sudden he craned his head to the side - to pick up one more bottle of booze. And the sight of the room in its _entirety_ hit her like a wave: all at once she passed her eye over the numerous glass containers in their many rows on the dining table. A good number of more bottles lined a few corners of the space, sitting on the countertop, some partially cracked or shattered on the floor in what seemed like clumsy trails. Also scattered around in alarming abundance were smaller thinner glasses filled with ruby-coloured liquid. Rice wine? A few of them still had plenty of drops left inside. She was close to petrified. Only a small space was left at one end of the dining table, probably for him to sit and drink down another gallon and mope.

Would she dare venture into the other rooms to find more similar discoveries? She couldn't possibly. As her feet found their way around the room they stopped short at a piece of crinkled paper. It looked like it'd been read and mulled over countless times. Urgency was the word for the document, for its text was in fairly bold print: sent to this address. A telephone number to contact in case.

Korra read on.

"Republic City Bankruptcy Court"?

"Debtors"?

"Termination"?

A vaguely familiar signature belonging to a renowned Republic City judge she might've read about.

_I understand. _Her head hung lowly.

Finally her eyes fell back on the former pro-bender albeit reluctantly, as he hungrily wolfed down more golden liquid. It was clear he was struggling, and forcing himself to do so because of the sounds escaping his throat. He was done with nearly one full and rather large bottle by the time the Avatar had composed herself and decided to take her seat by him, spreading her legs across the sofa's edge to be comfortable. She read nothing but haunting agony on that pale face. _If I had chosen to come by a day later…or a week later…_With that she leaned forward and cocked her head so her gaze easily met with his. Lowering herself, the expression she beheld conjured up an image of dying starlight…

"Hey Tahno," she brushed a knuckle against the edge of his brow, bringing to her own voice a feathery edge.

He appeared baffled, but the drowsiness spread across his face hid it almost completely. One eye was hidden behind the unkempt curtain of hair in the front of his face. She tried brushing it aside, and it was slippery and greasy to the touch. Underneath, his skin was clammy. The bottle was feeling incredibly heavy in his hand, so he let it drop to the floor with a loud thud. Korra failed to thread the incoherent croaking sounds he made into words, ever so mildly shaking her head to let him know she couldn't understand. She saw clear droplets leave the edges of his eyes before they disappeared under his chin.

Her tears were close to flowing as well, warming her eyes more and more. Under her breath she swore his irises used to twinkle. _How long have you been like this?_

Paying off referees? Illegal headshots? How did those all matter anymore? Amon appeared in her thoughts next, grinning smugly like the coward he was behind that harsh, ghostly white mask. She felt it was unlawful to take another breath unless she did something this instant. Throwing her arms around Tahno, she pulled him closer and pressed him against her figure as tightly as she could.

"It's okay. You're gonna be okay," she whispered under the grimy feel of his clothing, which she didn't mind. His shoulders rose and fell rapidly, for he was sniffling. She didn't mind burying her face in his hair either. Then came a hint of the very distant prospect suddenly occurring to her, that all along maybe Mako and Asami were meant to be together…

Korra reeled her new friend in tighter.

"You're staying at Air Temple Island from now on."


	3. Welcomed

_In my previous fic ("Reintroductions") I had made the mistake of making Tahno too much of a softie too quickly. I'll be giving him more of a temper and spark in this fic._

* * *

"It's just sky bison's milk. It will help you sleep better."

She is a murky blur above him, bringing a small cup closer to his lips. For a second he shudders, afraid she's lying and is offering him the one drink he particularly fears. Too late - the liquid enters his mouth and slides down his throat quickly, but it is rather rich and warm. He feels like the hangover's begun, hours too early. But he feels her very real weight sink into the edge of the mattress. He is at the peak of irritability, and the little things like how his body isn't lying level on the bed, or the light of the lamp she's switched back on, make him want to punch someone's jaw clean off.

Tahno mumbled upon swallowing the first gulp, "The alcohol's doing a fine enough job."

"Doing a fine job dehydrating you," Korra replied right away. _Don't mention water. Aren't you lucky I was smart enough to remember not to serve water? Don't mention water. _"Drink up."

"What do you want, Uhvatar? At an hour like this?" he mouths out, two sips later.

"To be honest, a good night's rest without worrying about you whining in your sleep."

"Whatever."

The following pregnant pause is unbearable for them both. It is close to midnight; she needs to clean her teeth and wash up and jump under the covers to even think properly. _And he needs to stop crying out for me in his dreams._ She then questioned, "What were you dreaming about?" _You kept calling my name. And well, I'm starting to wonder if even Mako does that. _Korra briefly wishes she could be sure the firebender received dreams from the spirits that pointed to her, not the prissy elegant rich girl. But guilt brings her train of thought to a temporary halt, because wasn't it about two days ago when Asami invited her over to the Sato mansion, even making an kind attempt to know her better? She'd given her an exhilarating ride in a test model of a Satomobile, round a race track.

"…Nothing much," was the former waterbender's half-lie. Korra almost forgot the question she'd thrown at him.

Suppressing a yawn, she tried thinking up anything else to say over the next five or so minutes. To no avail. He had shifted position to stare at the other wall, and she looked into the porcelain cup to find that by then had finished the bison milk.

"I guess this is good night," is all she manages.

Nothing from the receiving end.

* * *

"Yes, my husband had told me. Apparently Korra found him passed out from alcohol?" Pema stored the last of the done dishes, then scurried to the steamer over the stove fire to check on the food in its final stages of cooking. She was speaking to a couple of warm friendly Air Acolytes who'd served at the temple for a good five years at least. These two were a big help in caring for Meelo when he got out of hand.

One of them said, "We had to clean up after him this morning. But I think it was the worst of it."

"He refuses to drink. Is it true he was a waterbender before?" the other whispered lowly.

"That's right. Try not to let him see you washing up or having tea. Don't let any of my kids know about this. They'll ask questions!" Tenzin's wife waved a finger with a simper.

"Hi Pema," someone was behind her.

"Oh! Morning, Korra," she immediately greeted her with a hand upon the girl's shoulder. "If I'm not mistaken, you're supposed to be up earlier than this every morning to train?"

"Yeah, about that…I thought I'd wait to have breakfast with _him_."

Korra stepped a little out of the way to show her the new guest. He looked worn though young, and this made the compassionate mother of three concerned despite her vague knowledge (supplied by Tenzin) that he was a haughty cheater in the Pro-bending arena. It was difficult believing this was that same youngster avoiding her eye contact and slinking behind Korra, looking as though he yearned more to be a wallflower than anything else. Even the mid-morning sun trailing in failed to bring out...whatever it was in his eyes...for her to decipher with clarity.

"Ah. Well, that's very sweet of you." She had another set of crockery, a place mat and chopsticks laid on the table. "By the way, Tenzin asked to see you two in his study when you're done."

Tahno and Korra didn't speak throughout the whole of the meal. She bit into the lotus buns made by Pema, so astounded by how delicious they tasted and absolutely dying to tell someone about her excitement. Only…no one but the person opposite her was present. A tap was turned on in the next room which was meant for washing laundry, sometime later. Though the sound was fairly distant she could tell he still heard it - because the trickling and flow caused him to mildly flinch. She watched him as he struggled with his throbbing head thanks to the wine and beer, not wanting to make sudden moves herself. He watched her watch him from the corner of his sight, and only several moments later returned to barely chewing and swallowing a total of two buns.

* * *

"Morning, Tenzin."

Her mentor tore his eyes away from the stack of paperwork on his left. He flicked a hand to direct them, "Have a seat, you two."

They filled in the chairs facing him, Tahno slumping down a tad too clumsily in his after staring at the wall clock and taking in little details about the room. Feeling something foreign wrap around his two shoulders, he experiences the threat of emotion - and the water behind his eyes - when he discovers it's the Avatar's arm around him. He would not look at her, fearful as to what her eyes might tell him.

The councilman was apparently not surprised with that gesture of his pupil's, and cleared his throat. "Now, Tahno. I understand that Korra was in the neighbourhood when you were going through a lot of…trouble?"

"…Yes, sir."

"I just wanted to say you are welcome to continue living at Air Temple Island. You won't be charged for spending however long you need to here, before you perhaps find a job in the city and earn enough to rent another place. I can cover any fare you may need to pay for the ferry service between here and Republic City. Korra will show you around as soon as she's done training for the morning."

The former bender is baffled by the sheer amount of words freshly spoken. But he gets the gist of whatever the Uhvatar's airbending master was rambling about. "Uh, thanks a lot sir. For all this."

Clearly he was embarrassed.

"Korra, you may cut short your regular afternoon training by an hour to welcome your other friends this evening," the airbender gave a reminder.

_The Ferret brothers are moving in too?_ Tahno's mind is quick enough to figure it out, though he isn't fully sober.

The pair thank Tenzin and find their way back to Tahno's dorm. He is trudging ahead of her now, and Korra is extremely curious as to _why all the stomping_. But the plus point was she'd start training sooner, and be left with more mental space and capacity to fume secretly about her jealousy for Mako. _And spirits, he's moving in with the others this evening. This place will be a zoo._

"Why'd you drag me all the way here, Korra?" Tahno snapped suddenly.

Keeping a straight face, albeit her lips pressing firmly into a thin line, she answers, "You needed help. They were about the kick you out of your apartment." She spoke softly after sliding the bedroom door shut.

"I saw the letter from the bankruptcy court in your dining room."

"Did anyone say you could just poke around at my place? Just because you bend all the elements and happen to have a spiteful personality?" his silver eyes harden against her gaze. "I thought that after what you first said to me at the police headquarters, you'd be tactful enough to not embarass me in front of your teammates this evening!"

Her patience ran thinner with each passing second. _Oh, were you just complimenting me? "Spiteful"? _ She spoke up once more, "Like Tenzin said, I happened to be in the neighbourhood! What did you expect me to do? Not give a care and pretend I hadn't seen you at the station?" She hurled another ball into his court, "And since when do you care about what they think? They told me you were proud enough not to 'notice' them in the arena locker rooms!"

It stings him like salt to a gaping wound to be listening. He takes the route of redirecting the subject. "How'd you find out where I live?" he barks. But it dawns on him he must correct himself, "_Lived_?"

"I don't think it would matter."

He tries to be suave, crossing both arms and turning away a little. She doesn't think his posture fits the way he looks. _At all._ He is glaring at her at an angle, "I'm not your pet, Uhvatar, which you keep in here all day long and take out for walks."

Her pout has already formed, for she doesn't need this prior to her workout. "Then stop _acting_ like a pet and get some fresh air!" She covered her forehead with her palm, also spinning around so her back was facing his. Seconds elapse while she organizes the last few concerns she'll voice out to him. It begins with her sighing, which inevitably gets him thinking, _tenderness could be as painful and sharp as its opposite…_

"Tahno," Korra makes the effort to walk over and look into those hollow eyes, without forcing him to turn right back round. "You deserve at least a little kindness, not just from the Air Acolytes or from Tenzin or his family."

He takes in her gentler, now calmer stare, suddenly thinking of the ocean. This continues to stoke the angry embers within for reasons he vows to keep hidden; he doesn't speak. She is already taking steps to leave.

"I'll be training behind the temple if you feel like talking," is her last chance at that moment to make them both feel better.


	4. Release

It wasn't unusual for each kick and punch to markedly improve in intensity, when she imagined seeing her team captain and Jolly Miss Sato smooching. Or was it? It was deeply ingrained in her mind that of all the times she didn't get what she wanted, why _this_ situation? She had to be freed of the emotion somehow, and an hour had gone by since her spat with Tahno. He was but a minor perturbation factor now, her brief anger at him dissipating quickly. Her eyes swept across the stony platform bearing the symbol of yin and yang, to the ocean in the distance. The azure water reminded her he was a _former_ bender - it saddened her inside because of how her rival had changed. Korra let out a sigh.

"Come on, airbend!" she assumed one of the forms Tenzin had taught her. "AIRBEND!"

A poster of Aang hung in her bedroom that showed him performing an airbending slice. To the left of this poster were three more displaying the valiance of Avatar Roku, Kyoshi and Kuruk all those centuries ago. She focused on the image of her predecessor, cracking her brain attempting to figure out the ties between spirituality…freedom…light-footedness…and generating a darn gust of wind. She'd be content if she could create a breeze to fan the airbending kids on a blazing hot afternoon.

Freedom.

How could she possibly free herself for hating on that one particular happy couple? _Maybe this is the heart of the problem. _My_ problem._

She drew in breath to fill her lungs, and tried again. Still, not a puff of air resulted from her efforts. She tested the method she'd always depend on afterward - altering whatever she was thinking about, channelling every thought in a positive fashion. But Tenzin's persistent phrase would be, "Don't _think_, Korra." It had failed to pay off all those other times anyway. The silt that lay at the bottom of her emotions was the dread of surviving the evening with her friends at the dinner table, where she'd be obliged to act as the world expected her to. _Sure, not throw a plate or my chopstick at Mako. _

"Hey." A velvety voice was coming from behind.

Tahno was padding towards her on soundless feet. He read the lines on the Avatar's face: agitation. Uh-oh. But Korra relaxed each of her muscles upon whirling around to meet his curious stare. The pockets of space behind her eyes were heating up - _no, no, don't even think of tearing up like a child for him to see_ - and inhaling a large amount of air could help her mask those feelings. The first thing she looked at were the bags under his eyes; this was what saddened her most apart from the state of his hair, because it showed he must have been crying over a number of sleepless nights.

"I thought about what you said," muttered the former Wolfbat. His eyes still appeared eerily elusive.

"Do you feel better?" she asked, letting her gaze drop to the stony ground. "You know, I hate seeing you like this."

There were unseen ripples of disquiet around them. He was behaving somewhat inert and unresponsive, though she was sure that it was because of her question. Just when she felt like resuming the airbending forms his voice was heard, this time darkened, "That's illuminating…"

Korra corrected his presumptions fast, "What I mean is, no one deserves to take a fall that hard. Not even, well, the person you used to be."

His head begin to drop while he took a seat at the platform's very edge. He took his time to find a comfortable position, lethargic from the hangover and questioning himself for a split second whether it'd be better remaining in the microcosm of his dorm. In the end he couldn't deny the freshness of the air and healthy feeling of being in the sun. They picked up the squeaking of a ring-tailed flying lemur leaving a treetop with two more companions. The Avatar standing by Tahno sensed he forbade his eyes from meeting with the ocean. "I'm sorry for everything," his words came out loose, but filled with genuine intention.

"Nah, it's no big deal. It was just a stupid competition," she sat down too. Her back relaxed as she breathed out, and she lay her palms along the edge of the rock. "I'm just sorry all of _this_ happened."

He looked to her with a soft expression. "Care to explain what you mean by that?"

"I think you of all people should know. You know, you with your hungry eyes who enjoy prying people apart," she half-laughed.

"Oh, was that a compliment?" came his drawl. It occurred to Korra he was trying the same trick she'd pull off.

"Ugh…"

Despite being afflicted with the headache, he couldn't help countering it (and the pause that was getting to be too lengthy to bear) with an optimistic remark, "You know, we both would've gotten along just fine if you had joined the Wolfbats."

"Maybe," she uttered with more lilt. Shaking her head as though humiliated with herself, she remained convinced she must let it be known by at least somebody or she'd fly into a rage. "I can't believe I'm saying this…but what's been getting the better of me all morning and will possibly get the better of me all day…is that I'm jealous that Mako's dating Asami Sato. Promise me you won't tell anyone."

"Your team captain is dating the Sato girl?" he awkwardly fills in.

"He sure is."

Tahno rose to sit up straight, spicing up his tone with mirth. "I _did_ have the slightest hunch that you were interested in him. Judging by how he stepped in front of you to take hits in the tournament -"

She put up her defenses, "Okay, before this conversation weirds me out, we're going back inside."

A broken chuckle that sounded like uneven gravel escapes him. "Relax, Korra. I won't spill your secret - if you show me around the place as your master instructed."

Both then spent the tour of the Temple exchanging words that had nothing to do with the conversation before, and halfway they ran into Tenzin's two younger unruly kids. Introducing them to Tahno didn't end on the sweetest note, and Ikki and Meelo quickly grew bored and scurried off. Korra did nearly all the talking until they both were back by the door of Tahno's room.

"We've still got a while before lunch. What do you feel like talking about?" she leaned against the doorframe.

"I've been thinking about tonight," he said. "I don't feel up to coming down for dinner."

"What? Why not?"

"We've been through this earlier, Uhvatar."

"You could sit with me and Bolin - he's the most approachable person you will ever meet." She grips his shoulder, "Trust me. The fact that he played against your team won't change how he'd treat you now."

"…No thanks," he persists by raising a hand. As their eyes lock on one another the Avatar remotely feels the dulled and slow pain she knows is building up in him again. Most carefully she threads the right words in the right order, adding to them the gentlest tone she could manage. "Come on, you'll do way better than you think if you only let yourself."

He wishes he could turn his head to avoid her filling his vision. His lips are tighter than ever, only allowing him to say it seconds later, "Sorry. I'll pass."

Another reason was to be sure she couldn't catch the smallest hint of the secret.

He had successfully hidden the large bottle of rice wine behind the bedside table.

Korra can only acknowledge his final answer without once nodding. She makes her way downstairs alone.

* * *

Crickets chirped outside, their night music not quite drowned out by the closed walls. Pema had a window open in the kitchen which may have also explained why.

At the table, Korra had ensured that Bolin would be in the seat separating her from his brother. The earthbender would be chatting nonstop anyway, preventing her from draining the mental energy used to keep a steady pulse and straight face. Provided she was lucky, he might even crack enough jokes to take her mind off _the two of them_ completely. Somewhere between bites her thinking went off on a tangent, _How's Tahno doing? Having an early night? Is Tenzin going to bring him up and tell them the former leader of the White Falls Ref-Paying Wolfbats was living under the same roof? If not, Ikki certainly would. If not, perhaps she'd spill it to Bolin and it'd just be them both keeping Tahno company._

Unfortunately Mako was dominating the general though fragmented conversation shared between everyone, even including the airbending kids. "So we've cleared up pretty much everything to do with what Hiroshi's hidden from the world all this time," the firebender said. He pressed Asami with his arm around her closer still. Korra wasn't looking at them but their lovey dovey noises reached her ears.

"They're sending out more squads to hunt down my dad, but who knows how long it'd take to pick up their trails," uttered Asami.

Tenzin chewed on his tasty tofu skin dumpling. After swallowing he then said, "We're all sure you in particular have been through a lot in this short interval, Asami. If you need anything, your friends and my family would be glad to help."

On Korra's right, Meelo and Ikki tapped her shoulder and showed them their latest funny faces with open mouths full of rice. The Avatar faked a laugh before listening in unwillingly to Mako's ramblings. As she leaned forward, she felt her own eyes flare up when seeing Asami rubbing her smooth cheek against a spot just below his neck. The Sato girl looked sullen, but more comforted than Korra herself felt on the inside. Failed airbending training was a black mark imprinted on her otherwise perfect Avatar record. Not getting the guy that had so inspired and dazzled her, and failing to get him to connect with her in the right way added insult to injury.

Standing up, the legs of her chair screech against the floorboards. "Gee, Mako. Can't you and her save some talking time for the rest of us? Even Bolin hasn't found an opening to deliver something that's actually uplifting." She shoves her seat out of the way and proceeds to leave.

"I just need to grab some things."

The others hear rushed sounds of crockery and cutlery clinking, ending with deliberate footsteps exiting at the other end of the kitchen. She doesn't return to the table.

* * *

For the following hour she has found solace under one of the beech trees a good distance from the main building. It is by one of the small ponds not far from her training quarters. Tahno hadn't been in his room, but to be honest with herself she did not worry one bit. The storm of her own emotions had taken over, and only her four-legged best friend had ever been spared its consequences. _Picturing Mako's golden eyes is not making me any less mad._

"You hear that, Naga?" she strokes the gigantic polar bear dog's head on her lap, brows still knit in a frown.

The noise had been a loud low 'clunk', followed immediately by some terse whispering. Naga points her head in a direction for Korra out in the dark; the silhouette is clumsily groping about. From their well-lit spot the Avatar crawled a little forward and narrowed her eyes. _Ah. You._

"Tahno, is that you?" she yells.

Back on her feet, she spots the glistening of liquid - the darkest shade of red she'd ever seen - trailing towards her. Next she looks up to see him standing firmly, more like trying to maintain a proper posture. He wipes his mouth anxiously and brushes off whatever stuff has stained his trousers. The object he's tried to tuck behind his back is too obvious to conceal. You couldn't even slip it under your shirt or blouse without looking silly. "What in the world…you've been hiding that all along?" her finger was pointing at the bottle. "Where'd you get it from?"

"Aren't Air Nomads supposed to refrain from taking alcohol?" he knows she's seen it, and lifts up both arms as if to shrug sarcastically. Just then the bottle slips from his hand, hurtling to the ground and completely shattering. Tahno growls under his breath, crouching down to inspect if any pieces held any remaining wine to make up for it.

The largest piece is all too inviting and in his already half-drunken state (a quarter of the wine was left just before he dropped it) he picks it up at one of its more unforgiving ends. "Oww!" The former bender ended up lifting nothing off the ground except a bloodied hand.

Korra slapped her forehead with her palm, exasperated, "Oh no, you did not. You did not steal this from Tenzin's study, did you? That's meant to be a gift to be brought to the Council's evening galas, you jerkbender!"

He bit his lip, taking in the ghastly sight of his wound and her burning stare. In secret he suddenly felt afraid of her as she struggled to keep her heavy breath under control. Then, he scared himself with the speed - and willingness - with which his tears came pouring out. "Fine. So tell me how I'm supposed to cope with living in fear of people giving me these looks of sympathy -," he was aware she'd figured out he was crying, "- when I know they're just laughing at me behind their soft eyes and smiles?"

"Tahno," Korra discovered her own voice was breaking, "…I did promise I'd get Amon for you. I'll eventually learn how to restore your bending. Don't you get that?"

He stalls for a moment, but decides on replying the way he'd planned, "Well, you'd better make it fast, then." Wiping the tear stains, he stumbled to a neighbouring tree about ten feet from where Naga rested, landed in a miserable heap and brought his knees to his chest in hopes of closing off the real world and signaling for her to keep away. He was wrong. Stubborn as she so often was, Korra exhaled and cautiously approached.

"Goodness, what a mess...," her fingers send a current through him as they perch on the edge of his loosely opened hand. A bundle of nerves, opposing forces were at work in Tahno's mind while he surrendered to let her examine him. She could actually smell the iron in all that blood. "I could heal you if you look away-"

"What's he doing here?" he gasped out of the blue.

Puzzled, she turned to see that Naga had picked up the scent too, trotting over to inspect. The Avatar stretched out a hand lest the animal was in fact more excited than concerned - she was a predator, after all. But the polar bear dog's muzzle slowed to a halt once it made contact her human friend's palm, and she was panting calmly. Korra concluded, "Naga's not gonna harm you. She's sensitive to emotions." In the Avatar's experience, her beast was smart enough to detect how people felt. Plus she had been tamed as a cub, and whenever a fellow villager cut his hand off a fish hook or sustained a bad injury, Naga didn't go into some frenzy over the blood.

The full moon was shining above. His bending would've been strongest at this time each month. _Yue, help us with this whole mess._

"Go ahead," said Tahno at last. He was sleepy from the wine already gulped down.

So she summoned a stream of cooling pond water, and when it let off the beautiful glow, the former bender's heart begin to race. He wouldn't watch even from the corner of his eye as she patched up the cut skin over a duration of fifteen minutes. She soon indicated it was safe for him to see. Nothing but a faded red scar was left. Korra grinned slightly after he let out a breath of relief and gazed at her, bringing the back of her index finger against his cheekbone and wiping off a tear stain left behind.

However, she retracted back into a ball and took a deep breath. "I can't do everything alone." Her turn came to bury her face in her knees, "All this pressure has been building up on top of me for too long."

"Hey, hey," an unexpected soothing response came from her neighbour. "I'm right here." She felt graceful outstretched fingers spread over her and gently pull her away from the position. He had discovered he wasn't the only one. He wasn't alone all this time, thinking this way. He had finally found it in her striking eyes, but he had taken time to search deep enough. The light from a garden lamp sculpted the form of his face, as he bent his head to kiss her cheek. _If she had joined the Wolfbats, we would've gotten on more than just fine._

"It's okay," he couldn't have sounded more genuine. Through beady eyes he flashed his smile. She had not seen him smile this way before. It felt amazing to behold, bringing something inside her to life. Maybe someone was going to be there for her, to be eager to lean in closer than any other man and feel the brunt of her difficulties and flaws - and not turn away. Her anger had faded to a modicum. He was rubbing something off her chin when she found out that salty droplets had fallen down her face as well.

She allowed her own protective walls to be lowered. Without further ado she slid under the shelter that was her former rival, whilst he required _no_ effort to hold a smile for the first time in ages. They experienced what it was like to be understood and "together alone", as the Avatar remembered how Bolin once put it. All in an unforced manner, new and beautiful.

Finally she remembered she was supposed to offer him dinner, gazing across to the tree she'd been under earlier and the container of food wrapped in cloth. Only, by the time she recalled this she was listening to the faint, even breathing and rise and fall of his chest. Indisputably, she loved the weight of his head over hers the most. He was sound asleep.

"_You're_ okay," Korra was beaming from ear to ear, wishing Tahno goodnight.


	5. Resolve

As she opened her eyes no light of dawn greeted her. Every lamp in the gardens was dimmed to near nothing. But what had stirred her was how his body shook, though warm, and gently she wriggled herself out of the position underneath him. Studying Tahno closely, she quickly compared the slight chattering of his teeth, the quivering of his lips, the grip of his fingers tighten around his slleves…to the sound of the wind picking up. She herself felt just fine.

_So waterbenders are more sensitive to changes in temperature…if they lose their bending._ Korra spent two seconds shutting her eyes to mull over this sad fact. To speak from experience, she could stand in a South Pole snowstorm in her tank top for a good ten minutes without wincing. She bet he could too, if he still had his gift. Boiling water being poured over a wound didn't quite sting because she could control its flow over her skin.

There was rustling and she realized Naga had joined and snuggled next to them to sleep. The polar bear dog's eyes, black and glassy focused on her human friend's own oceanic ones. "I'm just off to grab a blanket for him," said Korra, slinking off on light feet to a small side entrance leading to the nearest dorms.

Just after she left Naga picked up more footsteps - familiar heavy ones belonging to the tall human with the cloth always around his neck. Mako was pacing laboriously to inspect the shadows, nooks and crannies. Under his coat he evened out a crease or two in his nightclothes. He controlled a tiny but compact ball of fire in his hand to help him find his way. It was tough, but Naga's white fur unmistakably reflected the small amount of light in the area.

"Korra? Korra!" he half-yelled, well aware of the silence that the breeze was trying to mask.

Then his light from his palm fell on the silhouette. Tahno shifted a little in his sleep, shivering as the wind howled a little more. In Mako's head he was trying to see the ruthless team captain who cheated his way to rob him and Bolin from the money they so desperately craved to live independently. _You got what was coming, Wolfbat. And you have no idea what scrounging around to stay alive is like._

This person - so vulnerable in appearance - and asleep against Naga's side couldn't be the same guy. But it was the hair: though deflated and resembling a miserable mop now, the firebender still believed what Tenzin had said during the meal about Korra bringing in an unexpected guest.

_"Him…," _Mako whispered to himself as he approached Tahno with a condescending glare, which Naga apparently polar bear dog let out a deep growl, as if defending the former bender. Like Korra mentioned, she was sensitive to emotions. Though she knew how the human she had roared at in the restaurant had the same scent as this sloppy-looking man, she was a creature eager to please and protect.

The firebender stepped back, and a voice interrupted his movement. "Mako?"

The Avatar appeared before him as suddenly as her pet had growled. Korra had a blanket over her shoulder, as if she too was camping out in the open.

He began, "I couldn't sleep after what happened at dinner. And you weren't in your room. What are you both doing out here?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so selfish," she laid down the load, spreading it out over Tahno, and scratched the back of her head.

"I need to know what's going on," he stepped closer, crossing both arms now.

"It's just…," Korra had to fight the temptation to turn away. "You know how I said I felt about you last time. I've been having trouble accepting, how you and Asami -"

He stopped her with a hand held up, while he shook his head, "Korra. I'm gonna have to repeat what you _remember_ me saying. I do like Asami, and what happened with Hiroshi at the mansion only reinforced that. It gave me even more reason to have to be there for her."

A moment longer than most passed.

"I understand," she finally breathed, the last of her pride turning into vapour. He was satisfied to see one side of her mouth turn up.

He had forgotten that Tahno was right by them until he shuffled a little to the side. "Is he giving you trouble?"

As Korra looked to the former Wolfbat, taking in the sight of his shoulders rising and falling more steadily now, Mako saw that she seemed more than concerned for him. The expression her eyes held was not what he had expected. It was the way he'd look to Asami, whether he was a distance away or a hand's breadth from her.

"We're fine. He's just been shaking from the cold," replied the Avatar. "Listen Mako, whatever you saw me do earlier…well, can we put it behind us? I owe Asami a big apology too.."

He grinned.

"Sure. See you at breakfast?"

A nod of acceptance from her, and he was off back to bed. This time Korra simply laid her head against Naga's shoulder without snuggling against her other friend to potentially wake him. The lines of Tahno's relaxed face was the last thing she saw and memorized, before she sank back into a slumber.


End file.
